diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 715c1095..2d2f77d9 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 xbps-0.42 (???):
 
+ * Implemented issue #69 (No way to set globally a custom architecture)
+   A new configuration keyword "architecture" has been added to override
+   the native machine architecture (uname -m).
+
  * Fixed issue #68 "xbps_binpkg_arch() asserts if arch contains a dash"
    https://github.com/voidlinux/xbps/issues/68
 
diff --git a/bin/xbps-uhelper/main.c b/bin/xbps-uhelper/main.c
index 01b86a36..cb77821d 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-uhelper/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-uhelper/main.c
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ usage(void)
 	"  Available actions:\n"
 	"    binpkgarch, binpkgver, cmpver, digest, fetch, getpkgdepname,\n"
 	"    getpkgname, getpkgrevision, getpkgversion, pkgmatch, version,\n"
-	"    real-version.\n"
+	"    real-version, arch.\n"
 	"\n"
 	"  Action arguments:\n"
 	"    binpkgarch\t<binpkg>\n"
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	if ((strcmp(argv[0], "version") == 0) ||
 	    (strcmp(argv[0], "real-version") == 0) ||
+	    (strcmp(argv[0], "arch") == 0) ||
 	    (strcmp(argv[0], "fetch") == 0)) {
 		/*
 		* Initialize libxbps.
@@ -269,6 +270,12 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			usage();
 
 		exit(xbps_cmpver(argv[1], argv[2]));
+	} else if (strcmp(argv[0], "arch") == 0) {
+		/* returns the xbps native arch */
+		if (argc != 1)
+			usage();
+
+		printf("%s\n", xh.native_arch);
 	} else if (strcmp(argv[0], "digest") == 0) {
 		/* Prints SHA256 hashes for specified files */
 		if (argc < 2)
diff --git a/lib/initend.c b/lib/initend.c
index 99eab458..67d83dcf 100644
--- a/lib/initend.c
+++ b/lib/initend.c
@@ -157,7 +157,8 @@ parse_option(char *buf, char **k, char **v)
 		"virtualpkg",
 		"include",
 		"preserve",
-		"bestmatching"
+		"bestmatching",
+		"architecture"
 	};
 	bool found = false;
 
@@ -249,6 +250,10 @@ parse_file(struct xbps_handle *xhp, const char *cwd, const char *path, bool nest
 			xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "%s: cachedir set to %s\n",
 			    path, v);
 			snprintf(xhp->cachedir, sizeof(xhp->cachedir), "%s", v);
+		} else if (strcmp(k, "architecture") == 0) {
+			xbps_dbg_printf(xhp, "%s: native architecture set to %s\n",
+			    path, v);
+			snprintf(xhp->native_arch, sizeof(xhp->native_arch), "%s", v);
 		} else if (strcmp(k, "syslog") == 0) {
 			if (strcasecmp(v, "true") == 0) {
 				xhp->flags &= ~XBPS_FLAG_DISABLE_SYSLOG;
diff --git a/tests/xbps/Kyuafile b/tests/xbps/Kyuafile
index e034f94f..1572eba4 100644
--- a/tests/xbps/Kyuafile
+++ b/tests/xbps/Kyuafile
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ include('xbps-create/Kyuafile')
 include('xbps-install/Kyuafile')
 include('xbps-query/Kyuafile')
 include('xbps-rindex/Kyuafile')
+include('xbps-uhelper/Kyuafile')
+
diff --git a/tests/xbps/Makefile b/tests/xbps/Makefile
index d982763e..af8ae620 100644
--- a/tests/xbps/Makefile
+++ b/tests/xbps/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 -include ../../config.mk
 
-SUBDIRS = common libxbps xbps-checkvers xbps-create xbps-install xbps-query xbps-rindex
+SUBDIRS = common libxbps xbps-checkvers xbps-create xbps-install xbps-query xbps-rindex xbps-uhelper
 
 include ../../mk/subdir.mk
diff --git a/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/Kyuafile b/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/Kyuafile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..748b9d02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/Kyuafile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+syntax("kyuafile", 1)
+
+test_suite("xbps-uhelper")
+atf_test_program{name="arch_test"}
diff --git a/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/Makefile b/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a803d19f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+TOPDIR = ../../..
+-include $(TOPDIR)/config.mk
+
+TESTSHELL = arch_test
+TESTSSUBDIR = xbps/xbps-uhelper
+EXTRA_FILES = Kyuafile
+
+include $(TOPDIR)/mk/test.mk
diff --git a/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/arch_test.sh b/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/arch_test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..49050351
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/xbps/xbps-uhelper/arch_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env atf-sh
+# Test that xbps-uhelper arch works as expected.
+
+atf_test_case native
+
+native_head() {
+	atf_set "descr" "xbps-uhelper arch: native test"
+}
+
+native_body() {
+	atf_check_equal $(xbps-uhelper arch) $(uname -m)
+}
+
+atf_test_case env
+
+env_head() {
+	atf_set "descr" "xbps-uhelper arch: envvar override test"
+}
+env_body() {
+	export XBPS_ARCH=foo
+	atf_check_equal $(xbps-uhelper arch) foo
+}
+
+atf_test_case conf
+
+conf_head() {
+	atf_set "descr" "xbps-uhelper arch: configuration override test"
+}
+conf_body() {
+	mkdir -p xbps.d
+	echo "architecture=x86_64-musl" > xbps.d/arch.conf
+	atf_check_equal $(xbps-uhelper -C $PWD/xbps.d arch) x86_64-musl
+}
+
+atf_init_test_cases() {
+	atf_add_test_case native
+	atf_add_test_case env
+	atf_add_test_case conf
+}